Copy and paste the following as a separate page connected to your portfolio then answer the questions on that page.
Split Second Design Worksheet
1. The way an audience perceives the play is shaped by the choice of performance venue, as well as the set that is designed for the play. Indeed, all the elements that you see and hear during a performance are bound to shape your perception of the play. Which of the following venues do you think can best meet the needs of the play? I think the proscenium would best meet the needs of Split Second, because the dramatic action is central and the show is a smaller-scale type of production. An arena would be too large for the show, and audience members might miss some of the detailed expressions of the characters (such as Val covering up the crime, the "life leaving his eyes", etc.) I think thrust could work as well but it might present more challenges to what the audiences could see and when.
2. What are some of the challenges posed by the play on the stage design team? Some of the challenges are the smallest things that audiences need to be able to see, such as Val making the conscious decision to cover up his crime by wiping his finger prints off and taking the cuffs back. The setting also changes from New York City streets to a police station to a home to a bar and then all over again. This means the stage design team must present ways to quickly change the settings (because the play is so fast paced), as well as how to make them fit in the venue,
3. Choose a character from the play and suggest how she/he should be dressed. In what ways do you think the costume would help accentuate his/her character? Be sure to indicate which scene you have selected to costume that character. You might even upload a picture of the kind of dress you think would be suitable for that character to wear. I'm choosing Willis in scene one. The playwright describes him in "street clothes", so I would dress him in baggy jeans, a white tank top with a button up thrown messily over it, and brightly colored, air-jordan-like sneakers. The sneakers should be falling apart, indicating how much he moves in them. He might also where a stocking cap to hide his face a little, knowing he would commit a crime. The costume should make the audience feel that he is not well-off, and maybe even a little desperate. It should let them know he doesn't care about his appearance. Below I attached an outfit I think would work for him, but the clothes should be a little more worn in than the example.
Image result for eminem outfit
4. Given the content of the play, how might the lighting design help further the mood of the production? Move thru the play scene by scene to provide a possible progression. Act I Scene 1 - Lots of lighting to accentuate being outside in the city, mid-july. Then, when Willis is shot, the lights should dim, and blackout totally when Val is done framing the crime. Scene 2 - The lights should be slightly dimmer, but still bright. Something that looks more like fluorescent than natural sunlight as previously used. Scene 3 - The lights should be slightly dimmer than before. Low backlighting to show a bar. Scene 4 - It should be noticeably dim now. Its night time in the apartment, and it is also a darker moment in the play when Val chooses to tell Alea the truth. Its the intrusion, so the lights should reflect an ominious tone. Act II Scene 1 - The lights should be brighter, fluorescent to symbolize being in an apartment. The lights are brighter to represent the hope Val feels and wants from his father. He needs his help, and probably secretly hopes telling him to the truth will make it better. Scene 2 - The lights should dim to show that the previous scene didn't go well. Scene 3 - Even dimmer now. They're in a bar, and it is obvious the events are going as Val wants them to. Scene 4 - Very dim now to match the tone of the arguement Alea and Rusty are having, and later Val will join too. Scene 5 - Nearly pitch black. There should be a spotlight on Val as he sits at the table, and the rest of the stage should be blackout. We don't need to see the chief or anyone besides him.
5. Suggest music or sound effects that might be used to accentuate the mood or atmosphere of the play and the transitions between parts of the play. You might even choose to upload music or sound effects that you think are suitable for the play, or moment in the play, or as preshow music or transitions from one scene to another. I think it would be a great detail if at the beginning, and throughout the scene transitions, city noises played in the background. Speeding cars, honking, perhaps a police siren that gets louder and louder as the play moves on. The noises should speed up as the tension increases until the finale. A gun shot sound is definitely needed for when he shoots Willis, and I think it would provide cohesion if, at the very end, a gun shot is heard off in the distance to symbolize the death of Willis, but also the metaphorical death of Val, burdened by the weight of his crime.
Copy and paste the following as a separate page connected to your portfolio then answer the questions on that page.
Split Second Design Worksheet
1. The way an audience perceives the play is shaped by the choice of performance venue, as well as the set that is designed for the play. Indeed, all the elements that you see and hear during a performance are bound to shape your perception of the play. Which of the following venues do you think can best meet the needs of the play?
I think the proscenium would best meet the needs of Split Second, because the dramatic action is central and the show is a smaller-scale type of production. An arena would be too large for the show, and audience members might miss some of the detailed expressions of the characters (such as Val covering up the crime, the "life leaving his eyes", etc.) I think thrust could work as well but it might present more challenges to what the audiences could see and when.
2. What are some of the challenges posed by the play on the stage design team?
Some of the challenges are the smallest things that audiences need to be able to see, such as Val making the conscious decision to cover up his crime by wiping his finger prints off and taking the cuffs back. The setting also changes from New York City streets to a police station to a home to a bar and then all over again. This means the stage design team must present ways to quickly change the settings (because the play is so fast paced), as well as how to make them fit in the venue,
3. Choose a character from the play and suggest how she/he should be dressed. In what ways do you think the costume would help accentuate his/her character? Be sure to indicate which scene you have selected to costume that character. You might even upload a picture of the kind of dress you think would be suitable for that character to wear.
I'm choosing Willis in scene one. The playwright describes him in "street clothes", so I would dress him in baggy jeans, a white tank top with a button up thrown messily over it, and brightly colored, air-jordan-like sneakers. The sneakers should be falling apart, indicating how much he moves in them. He might also where a stocking cap to hide his face a little, knowing he would commit a crime. The costume should make the audience feel that he is not well-off, and maybe even a little desperate. It should let them know he doesn't care about his appearance. Below I attached an outfit I think would work for him, but the clothes should be a little more worn in than the example.
4. Given the content of the play, how might the lighting design help further the mood of the production? Move thru the play scene by scene to provide a possible progression.
Act I
Scene 1 - Lots of lighting to accentuate being outside in the city, mid-july. Then, when Willis is shot, the lights should dim, and blackout totally when Val is done framing the crime.
Scene 2 - The lights should be slightly dimmer, but still bright. Something that looks more like fluorescent than natural sunlight as previously used.
Scene 3 - The lights should be slightly dimmer than before. Low backlighting to show a bar.
Scene 4 - It should be noticeably dim now. Its night time in the apartment, and it is also a darker moment in the play when Val chooses to tell Alea the truth. Its the intrusion, so the lights should reflect an ominious tone.
Act II
Scene 1 - The lights should be brighter, fluorescent to symbolize being in an apartment. The lights are brighter to represent the hope Val feels and wants from his father. He needs his help, and probably secretly hopes telling him to the truth will make it better.
Scene 2 - The lights should dim to show that the previous scene didn't go well.
Scene 3 - Even dimmer now. They're in a bar, and it is obvious the events are going as Val wants them to.
Scene 4 - Very dim now to match the tone of the arguement Alea and Rusty are having, and later Val will join too.
Scene 5 - Nearly pitch black. There should be a spotlight on Val as he sits at the table, and the rest of the stage should be blackout. We don't need to see the chief or anyone besides him.
5. Suggest music or sound effects that might be used to accentuate the mood or atmosphere of the play and the transitions between parts of the play. You might even choose to upload music or sound effects that you think are suitable for the play, or moment in the play, or as preshow music or transitions from one scene to another.
I think it would be a great detail if at the beginning, and throughout the scene transitions, city noises played in the background. Speeding cars, honking, perhaps a police siren that gets louder and louder as the play moves on. The noises should speed up as the tension increases until the finale. A gun shot sound is definitely needed for when he shoots Willis, and I think it would provide cohesion if, at the very end, a gun shot is heard off in the distance to symbolize the death of Willis, but also the metaphorical death of Val, burdened by the weight of his crime.